Tag Archive: Adam West

It’s just what fans of DC Comics have been begging for. Finally, a Batman portrayal worthy of Adam West and Michael Keaton. The complete membership of the classic Justice League as fun as we all remember them from the comic books. Homages to famous artists adapted to the big screen from the best of DC Comics, like cover artist Jock, plus throwbacks to the campy series of the 1960s. And more homages to the musical scores from the best of the DC Comics cinematic adaptations of the past, including callbacks to Danny Elfman’s score to the 1989 Batman movie and John Williams’ Superman theme.

What was your favorite DC Comics adaptation before 2017? How far back do you go? Most superhero movie fans seem to agree upon the original Superman starring Christopher Reeve as the modern rebirth of the superhero film, and count Reeve among the best embodiments of a superhero on film. But after Reeve, fans begin to disagree as movies based on DC Comics are concerned, and usually turn to the CW Network television series for the next best DC iterations of comic book adaptations.

So when all of it finally comes together, it finally comes together in 2017, after the likes of misfires including Man of Steel, Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, and Suicide Squad, we finally have an exciting and worthy DC Comics outing that is fun for the entire family, and best of all, it is all heart.

Holy Contributing to the Delinquency of Minors, Batman! Those fans of the late Adam West’s Batman and Burt Ward’s Robin and their classic camp TV version of the DC Comics superheroes can get a nostalgic fix of the good ol’ days in Batman: Facts and Stats from the Classic TV Show, designed by Rian Hughes with text by Y.Y. Flurch (actually Joe Desris–Y.Y. Flurch is an in-joke to the name of an author on a book in the series). Celebrating the five decades since the Batman series premiered in 1966, Batman: Facts and Stats is a technicolor treat for your favorite Bat-fan.

Batman: Facts and Stats is not an in-depth look at the series–it’s more of a “gift book” formatted hardcover–8 inches by inches, it’s a nicely designed scrapbook full of images from the show and selected trivia. Did you know Robin delivered more than 400 “Holy…” lines throughout the series? From Holy Barracuda! to Holy Priceless Collection of Etruscan Snoods! The book is populated with real-world references and in-world curiosities. You’ll learn behind the scenes information about the Batmobile, Batcopter, and the Batcycles, and photos of many of Batman’s wonderful toys, like the years ahead of its time mobile crime computer, the inflatable duplicate Batmobile, and the Bat-phone.

Only one actor donned the suits of villainy for each of the Penguin (Burgess Meredith), the Joker (Cesar Romero), and the Riddler (Frank Gorshin), but you’ll see plenty of different Catwomen (Star Trek and The Bionic Woman’s Julie Newmar, Barnaby Jones and Mission: Impossible’s Lee Meriwether, and St. Louis Blues’ Eartha Kitt) and Mr. Freezes (Oscar winner George Sanders, director Otto Preminger, and The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly and The Magnificent Seven’s Eli Wallach). Like many 1960s television shows (think Lost in Space and Star Trek for starters), Batman featured a host of guest stars, with everyone from Vincent Price to Cliff Robertson, Shelly Winters to Liberace, Roddy McDowell to Zsa Zsa Gabor, and so many others. But what five characters appeared in all 120 episodes of the series? Batman: Facts and Stats will get you up to speed on plenty of Bat-trivia.

This weekend the Batmobile from the original 1960s Batman series sold at auction for a whopping $4.62 million by the Barrett-Jackson Auction Company.

The original Batmobile began as a unique 1955 Lincoln Futura concept car built in Italy by Ford Motor Company, which was heavily modified by legendary customizer and car creator George Barris to become the original 1966 Batmobile in both the live action TV series, and the movie adaptation starring Adam West and Burt Ward. George Barris reportedly bought the 1955 car for $1 back in 1966 and spent $15,000 in 15 days creating the final look for the car. The Batmobile has a V-8 engine and functional instruments in the steering wheel, as well as a push-button transmission. Barris owned the car all these years, touring the car at conventions, and finally decided to let the car go in this weekend’s auction in Scottsdale, Arizona.